Best Video Streaming Apps for Kids and Families

When it comes to streaming family-friendly content you just can’t beat the NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV. With a whole host of apps to choose from and easy parental controls, with SHIELD, parents can rest-assured that their kids are staying safe while enjoying a wealth of content. With that said here is our ever-growing list of the Best Video Streaming Apps for Kids and Families.

Android Apps Just for Kids

These apps were designed with kids and families in mind. Whether boasting family-friendly content or deep and easy to use parental controls, you and your kids will have a great time with any of these apps.

YouTube Kids (Free)

Described by YouTube as “designed for curious little minds,” YouTube Kids aims to gives kids and families a simple and easy way to watch their favorite shows and videos. Chocked full of family-friendly content, YouTube kids helps kids discover a variety of kid-themed videos, channels, and playlists.

YouTube Kids videos are broken up into relevant categories like Shows, Music, Learning, Gaming, and Explore, and the UI is replete with larger buttons that make it easier for younger users to navigate.

When it comes to content, YouTube Kids boasts many tried and true favorites like Thomas & Friends, DreamworksTV, and Talking Tom, as well as online hits like Mother Goose Club, Super Simple Songs, and Wonder Quest.

YouTube aims to make YouTube Kids a safe place for kids to experience YouTube, and to that end, they have a fairly robust system of parental controls. Adults can tailor YouTube Kids to suit their own family’s needs and the settings are placed behind a grown-ups only lock.

Disney Movies Anywhere App (Requires In-App Purchases)

When you think about Disney Movies Anywhere, it’s easy to picture cartoons and kid-specific content. But that’s hardly the case. With the Disney Movies Anywhere app users can purchase Disney, Disney•Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars movies to add to your digital collection. In addition to that, Disney Movies Anywhere will also let users watch their Disney movie collection on any device wherever you are. You can also download content locally which is great for road trips and flights.

The Disney Junior app for Android TV boasts everything for preschoolers, from “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” and “Doc McStuffins” to “Lion Guard.” Kids can even watch their favorite Disney Junior shows or live TV. Additionally, the Disney Junior app can let kids and families stream full shows whenever and wherever as well as entertaining shorts and music videos.

If Disney Junior is for preschoolers, then the Disney Channel is about all tweens. With shows like “Elena of Avalor,” “Descendants,” and “Stuck in the Middle,” kids can watch both on-demand and live shows.

The Disney XD app definitely skews older than the others. With shows like “Star Wars Rebels,” “Walk the Prank,” and “Milo Murphy’s Law,” older kids will no doubt love this content. Similar to the other Disney apps, Disney XD rocks both on-demand and live content.

PBS Kids App (Free)

Gone are the days of kids’ shows coming on only at specific times of the day. Remember Saturday morning cartoons? While kids nowadays expect to be able to watch their favorite shows whenever they’re free, this is also a boon for parents as it’s now even more easy to keep them occupied. At least with PBS Kids parents can rest assured that the content is good.

Formerly known as ABC Family, Freeform is the goto place for ABC content. Boasting shows like “Pretty Little Liars,” “Shadowhunters,” “Young & Hungry,” and “The Fosters,” you’ll also find an ever-growing library of your favorite movies, and live TV (requires a cable or satellite subscription). With Freeform SHIELD users can easily catch up on full episodes of shows.

Toon Goggles (Premium plan is $4.99 / month)

Toon Goggles is a new Android TV app that lets kids watch both “kid-safe” and “parent-approved” content including cartoons and music from from the comfort of your couch with SHIELD Android TV. With an ever-increasing library of 4K content, Toon Goggles boasts hundreds of fun and educational cartoons as well as live action shows and millions of popular songs from famous artists such as One Direction, Taylor Swift, and Selena Gomez via the new Tune Goggles Radio feature. kidSAFE Certified, Toon Goggles also has a bunch of parental controls so that the folks in charge can effectively monitor their kids’ viewing experience. Toon Goggles is free but Toon Goggles Premium, which offers unlimited viewing to their entire catalog is $4.99 / month.

”SpongeBob SquarePants” fans rejoice as the Nick for Android TV app is now available for SHIELD. With the ability to watch full episodes and videos from Nickelodeon on the Nick app for Android TV you can now while away your time with your favorite Nick shows like “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” and “Henry Danger” just to name a few. Not a pure cord cutting app, the Nick for Android TV app requires you have a cable or satellite subscription. Parents will also welcome the app’s parental controls.

Kids and Family-Friendly Content on Apps You Already Have

As SHIELD users you probably already have these popular apps. But did you know that they all boast dedicated channels specifically for kids and families?

Netflix Kids (Plans start at $7.99 / month)

If you’re a cord cutter like us, you probably use a multitude of apps. With SHIELD Android TV’s universal search features, you can search from the home page, and you will get results from supporting apps. Netflix has now been added to the Android TV list of apps that appear when doing a universal search from the SHIELD Android TV home page. When it comes to kids and families however, finding content is also super easy. You can see Netflix curated content for kids and families here.

Hulu Kids (Plans start at $9.99 / month)

While Netflix boasts a veritable treasure trove of movie content, the fact remains that Hulu is arguably the best place to view newer TV content. You may not get to watch “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” the night it airs, but it’s still pretty funny the next day. We’ve been using the Hulu app to catch up on all of our favorite TV shows on SHIELD Android TV. Similar to Netflix, Hulu also sports curated content that’s suitable for kids and families. Check it out here.

VUDU KidsZone (Requires In-App Purchases)

Discover, watch and collect the latest movies and TV with VUDU. With an ever-growing 4k library, with VUDU, SHIELD owners can instantly watch hits like “Good Dinosaur,” “Supergirl” and more. VUDU also has what they call KidsZone which is essentially a depository of all of their kids and family content. With VUDU you can rent or own only the content that you want and stream it directly to your SHIELD Android TV. VUDU also supports UltraViolet movie playback as well as Disney Movies Anywhere movie playback. Sign-up is free and one-time movie rentals range from $0.99 cents to $5.99 and you can typically purchase movies from $4.99 to $24.99.

Sling TV (Plans start at $20 / month)

The Holy Grail, and often most difficult thing for cord-cutters to resolve, is live TV. Sure, over-the-air HD is great for local TV but what about live cable TV? That’s where Sling TV comes in. For $20 a month you can stream everything from HGTV and ESPN to the History Channel and, of course, those ever-present Law and Order: SVU marathons on TNT. That said, Sling TV also has a channel dedicated to kids and families.